Toxicity to Daphnia of the end products of wet oxidation of phenol and substituted phenols

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1985

Department

Department of Biological Sciences; Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Abstract

The process of wet oxidation breaks down organic substances in aqueous solution at elevated temperatures and pressures. Experimental wet oxidations were carried out on pure solutions of phenol, 2-chlorophenol and 4-nitrophenol. After 1-h wet oxidation, final concentrations of these compounds averaged 3% of their concentrations in the starting solutions. The toxicities of the starting compounds and the residual toxicity of the end-product solutions were measured with 48-h acute toxicity tests using Daphnia magna. The solutions of end products were all less toxic than the starting solutions by factors ranging from 10 to 120. However, the end-product solutions were somewhat more toxic than would be predicted from the known concentration of initial compound remaining in the solution of end products.

Publication Title

Water Research

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